According To You
by smile1
Summary: Clark/Lois. "Lois' fingers clung to the banister as she compelled her body to stay where it was, when really she wanted nothing more but to rush down the stairs and see his face." Things need to get untangled. Takes place after season 8.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the television series _Smallville_. All I am doing is borrowing the characters so I can act out one of my takes on #Clois.**

**A/N: **This is my attempt at a Clark/Lois story. It takes place after season 8, but I have taken some liberties with the storylines here and there, so I hope you'll be comfortable with that. As for the characters, obviously I am trying my best to keep them in character (which I hope they are!), but, at the same time, it _is _my take on the show and the pairing. I have written a lot of fanfiction throughout the years, centering on a variety of shows and pairings, but this is going to be my very first Smallville story. I have written a Clark/Lois one-parter before this, so if you have the time, please do check that out as well. Thanks! Oh, and don't worry because I do know where I want this story to go and I have my plans. :)

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**Marching On**

"_This crush isn't going away."_

There she was, Lois Lane: Metropolis' up and coming reporter, the _Daily Planet_'s own personal lifeline to Superman. She was so many things, but a keeper apparently wasn't one of them. She pulled up her nose at her own self-pity; so what if she was like one of those strays that people took in because it looked harmless enough, but, then, once the claws came out, it was right back out on the street because it was too hard to handle. _And impossible to take care of._

It was the story of her life, moving from one army base to another, very poor substitutions for a stable home. And, then, once she had finished high-school, during her trial runs with several colleges, she had been dependent on dorm rooms. After, when she had come to the conclusion that college just wasn't for her, Chloe had been her operating home base. More recently, it had been the Kents who had put a roof over her head.

It gave her an unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach when she remembered how full of life and love this house had once been, and how easily and quickly she had been accepted within their family unit. Whilst now, well, the farm had been vacant ever since Clark's sudden disappearance, so Martha had offered for Lois to move in to housesit. But she had moved in only weeks ago and now she was already moving out again; Clark had returned, out of nowhere (he seemed to have dropped out of the sky) and he didn't appear to keen on talking about it, so Lois didn't ask.

She admitted to there being some resentment on her part, to the total loss of trust, and then there was the pure frustration she felt but couldn't express, because ever since Clark had returned, a handful of days ago, he had been acting like he had never left, like everything was just perfect between them. _Like things hadn't changed. _Well, if he was going to approach the past and her from that angle, then she was going to do the same. Granted she was going to play pretend from the apartment above the _Talon_. Chloe had immediately told her that she could move in. In fact, her cousin had basically moved out already and now lived in the apartment Jimmy had left her.

Lois scoffed. The Watchtower… Like she didn't know that Jimmy's wedding present had been turned into Green Arrow and friends' not so secret clubhouse. If people wanted to keep her out of the loop and lie to her, then that was their right. Yeah, it hurt some, but she wasn't going to bawl her eyes out over it.

Lois looked around her—the guest bedroom—one last time, double checking that she wasn't forgetting anything. But really, who was she kidding? Even if she did leave behind something, she could always just drop by and pick it up. She had too much stuff anyway. She sighed while picking up the box, maneuvering her way out of the room, down the hall, and carefully down the stairs.

To someone who knew her, it was obvious that she was dragging her feet, but to the uninformed observer she appeared to have pep in her step, like she was excited about this new development in her life, only it wasn't a new one…

Shelby pressed his snout against her leg and instead of trying to shake him off, Lois balanced the box on one arm and reached for the dog with her free hand. "I'll miss you too, Shelbs." She sneezed, the box tipping dangerously to one side, but before it could drop, Clark had it.

"You're more than welcome to stay," he offered one last time, despite him already having told her this more times than she could count. He knew she wouldn't stay and he also knew that there was more to it than her stubborn nature. Yet, he had come to learn that whenever her bottle would get too full, she would pour out some of its content to make room.

Lois shrugged, taking the box from Clark's hands. "That's okay, Clark. You need your privacy, and seeing as how I won't respect it if I stay here… Plus, something tells me that me butting my nose in is completely unwanted right now." They exchanged a brief glance, though he ducked his head protectively and Lois took that as her cue to get the hell out of there.

It was awkward and there was no way to get around that, for her anyway. She would only talk to fill the silences between them. They had to get reacquainted, which, like most things in life, took time. She headed for the front door, continuing her passive aggression, "Plus, us trying the roommate thing for the umpteenth time is kind of predictable. We both know how that will _not _work."

She stepped back as he opened the door for her. He didn't say anything, and that was when she decided not to share with him the fact that, while he had been gone, her relationship with Superman had continued. She had gotten at least two phone calls a week and even the occasional clandestine visit, where he would still conceal his face from her, but she kept telling herself that she understood him retaining his secret identity. Yet, she had severe issues with Clark's secrecy and, thus, if he wasn't going to show and tell, neither would she.

Lois nodded and pumped herself up about it, convincing herself that it was making her feel better. Although the truth was that a part of her—the part that tended to conquer over the other parts—felt betrayed, betrayed that Clark had been able to just leave without saying goodbye. She didn't need an explanation if she had only had the warning. Of course she hadn't been completely honest either, but, then again, when she had been zapped into the future, it hadn't been her intention. It was an accident and she wasn't sharing it with Clark because she didn't remember a lot as it was. All she took away from her time traveling experience was that, somehow, she would have a pivotal role to play in Superman's existence and the preserving of that existence. Lois had no clue how, but apparently time _would _tell and she had developed a pretty close relationship with Superman, so she wasn't letting it with her head too much. _When the time was right, she would deal with it._

She pressed her knee against the side of the car, balancing the box on top of it as she unlocked the car door. She dumped the box on top of the others, not liking the prospect of having to unpack it all in the near future.

"Are you sure you have everything?"

"Nope," Lois answered him, closing one door and opening the other. "But if I'm missing anything, I can always drop by to pick it up, or you can bring it with you to the _Planet_." She got in, started the car, and turned on the radio. "If it's any consolation, I think I packed all my underwear!" she screamed over the blaring music.

That earned her a set of surprised, but pleasantly so, baby blues followed by a cautious smile. She pushed the button to roll up the window and let out a breath she hadn't even been aware of holding. "Damn it, Smallville," she muttered to herself as she drove off, catching a final glimpse of Clark in the rearview window as he lifted up his hand in a semi-wave.

At least they always had their love/hate repartee to fall back on, but maybe she would've rather found out what it would have developed into if he hadn't left? They had been building up to something, a climax of some sort. Lois blushed, although there was no reason why she should even be going there, since they were back to where they had started off.

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A couple of hours, Lois was sitting in the middle of the _Talon _apartment, surrounded by half empty boxes and piles of clothes, random video games, and a number of miscellaneous items she hadn't needed until she had laid eyes on them again. Still, all the clutter didn't seem to be her main concern as her eyes were on the television set across from her, a tub of Ben & Jerry's on her lap that would suffice for dinner that night.

She begrudgingly got up from the floor when her cell phone rang, taking another bite of ice-cream right before she answered.

"Yeah?" she managed to get out.

"How is it that I always seem to catch you at a bad time?"

Lois recognized the voice instantly and swallowed the lump of ice-cream, giving her a temporary brain freeze that almost made her drop the phone. "This isn't a bad time, where did you get that idea?" She recovered and licked the spoon. "What can I do you for? Do you need another publicity story or—"

"Not this time…. Thank you."

"Good; your head is already way too big as it is and even that red cape of yours can't disguise that."

Clark chuckled on the other end of the line. "I was just looking for some of your company, actually."

"And who could blame you. I'm a delight." She dropped the lid back on the tub and headed for the freezer. "What are the conversation topics for tonight?"

"Before we get to that, I was wondering if you could come and meet me?"

Lois closed the freezer after having put the ice-cream back and looked down at her watch, calculating how much time she would need to at least look presentable to an ordinary human, let alone a superhuman. "No problem, just tell me where and when."

"Let's say the Talon, about now?"

Clark could almost see the shock on her face as she realized what he was saying. "You're already here, downstairs? Right… Well, if you were a regular guy I would have to kindly refuse, but since normal rules don't apply to you…" she babbled on.

"Lois? Is that a yes?"

"Uh huh, I'll be there in a flash." She hung up the phone and headed for the door, throwing a quick look at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in a pair of crazily patterned and brightly colored PJ bottoms and an oversized sweater, a keepsake of one of her college trials. It would have to do. She removed her hair from its ponytail and shook it out as she approached the stairs.

She tried to locate him in the dark and found him standing in the _Talon_, beneath one of the large arches. She rested her hands on the balustrade and remained standing there, knowing that this was the agreement they had come to if they met face to face.

"Hi Lois," he greeted her.

"Kal-El," she acknowledged with a nod, looking down at her hands as she tried to play off her slip of the tongue. He had never told her his real name and up until now she had only called him by the name she had helped create.

"How—"

She shrugged. "I _am _a reporter and, in case you haven't picked up a paper in a while, a good one at that." She frowned. "Although I think that fact tends to be overlooked, since I'm the only _Daily Planet_ reporter who has actually managed to schedule interviews with the Man of Steel… It's more a supply and demand type of deal in which I gain my fifteen minutes of success, or popularity in this case." She wrinkled her nose at the notion and Clark couldn't help but smile, leaving the question unanswered for now.

Lois wasn't a threat, though it still deeply intrigued him how she got access to his alien name. Something told him that she had her share of details as well that she kept from him, but he had the feeling that she had them because she lived in the here and now. Lois didn't like to look back at the past and wonder what she could have done differently, nor did she focus on the future too often. The present was a good enough place to be, comfortable, yet uncomfortable at the same time because she realized that the complications she had pushed to the side for now, would come back to bite her in the ass sooner than she would be ready for them.

"You're a very talented journalist, Lois. You know this really."

She smiled and he went on, "I wouldn't have wanted anybody else representing me on paper."

An even bigger smile graced her features, temporarily softening the lines. "I'm sure the personal relationship has nothing to do with it."

"It has its added value," Clark agreed. "It's nice to have someone to talk to, someone who can get past the—"

"Tights?" Lois asked with a raised eyebrow and amused smile.

He nodded, the slightest bit embarrassed and not getting any satisfaction out of her being dressed in a just as ridiculous ensemble, in her eyes anyway. In his eyes, this was how Clark like to see her: a-comfortable-in-her-skin Lois who blurted out whatever was on her heart before it had been processed by her brain. It was how she used to be with him, _before he had left her_.

She caught him looking at her and she crossed her arms in front of her chest self-consciously, and he pulled his eyes away, clearing his throat even though he didn't really know what to say.

"It must get lonely, huh? I mean, your superhero routine can't be helping things along; you have to keep a safe distance from everyone…" She stared off into space and his eyes sought her out again in the dark and intimate space they shared. "Although, in my opinion, people are not all they're made out to be. The truth is, everyone makes bad decisions and makes mistakes, all in the name of protecting their loved ones…" She snapped out of it and caught him looking at her intently, and although she couldn't make out his features, she could almost put a label on the emotion he was projecting. It was the greatest and saddest of feelings, when you were so close to really knowing someone, but then never quite got there. It was like walking down a road you knew had a dead-end. "Supposedly anyway." Lois shrugged and dropped her hands back on the banister. "

"No." Clark shook his head. "It sounds like you're speaking from experience. Go on," he urged, his interest peaked.

Lois shook her head. "I doubt you came here to talk about my personal affairs."

"I didn't come here to talk about mine."

"Which only leaves mine." Lois nodded and smiled to herself, one hand on her hip as she fired the following comment at him, "Guess that must make me a _very_ intriguing person."

Clark held back a chuckle. "You have no idea."

Lois bit her lip, continuing to look at him for a few more silent seconds before lifting up her hands and gesturing at the space around her. "Well, from your house call I take it you know that I moved back in here. Yep," she affirmed. "I have the whole place to myself as well. Chloe already practically lived in the apartment Jimmy gave her…" She paused and lowered her eyes whilst wringing her hands together as she briefly remembered Jimmy. "So she decided to move in permanently."

"I thought you were living at the Kent farm?" He didn't like to linger on Jimmy's death.

She nodded. "I was. I only moved in a few weeks ago, when Clark left; his mom wanted me to keep an eye on it or whatever… until Clark decided to grace Smallville with his presence again. That was about a week ago and now I'm here." She chuckled, though it sounded forced. "That's me, always moving from one place to another, without one of them ever feeling like home. Well, the Kent farm is the closest I've ever come to really feeling at home, but I can't just claim a family, you know. Plus, Clark and I—"

"Clark and you what?"

She stopped herself from finishing the sentence because she might feel like emptying her heart out on the floor, at Superman's feet, but that didn't mean Clark would appreciate it. Hell, he probably didn't even realize that they had been so close to something more before he left. Or maybe he had, but he had just been too much of a coward to confess it to her, but then, hadn't she been just as much of a coward?

Clark interrupted her self-contemplation as delicately as he could by clearing his throat. He had grown uncomfortable at her silence, rarely having been a witness to that and he wouldn't get more out of her if that was never her intention. "Lois, I'm aware that this is personal and between you and Clark, but if you ever _do _want to tell me, I'll be around." He took a step forwards, moving from beneath the arch's shadow and revealing himself to her, all but his face. "And I won't tell a soul."

Lois' fingers clung to the banister as she compelled her body to stay where it was, when really she wanted nothing more but to rush down the stairs and see his face. But she remained where she was and eyed him, admiring the man in front of her and wondering what was hidden underneath the suit? She couldn't help it. A superhero such as Kal-El had been made to draw a crowd of idolizing and starry-eyed women. He was too perfect to be real, or human in this case: with that well-built body he kept covered, although there was enough to look at, beneath the latex, and the deep voice that sent chills down her spine and had her dreaming of him at night. There were more traits of course, others that didn't have to do with his appearance, because he also seemed to be a genuinely good person.

"Lois," he called her name. "You okay?"

"Uh huh," she got out, pulling at her sweatshirt since she was feeling hot all of a sudden, tingling all over. "I'll keep that in mind, and the same goes the other way around, unless it's _on_ the record of course." She flashed him a smile, but it was obvious that she was distracted.

Clark didn't have time to get in to that as he picked up on a robbery about to take place. He looked over at Lois. "As much as I hate to cut this short, I—"

Lois nodded. "No need to explain; you have lives to save and criminals to put behind bars, I get it."

She maintained her smile, but Clark knew that his hit-and-run-visits must have their price. He, as Superman, tried to be an as constant factor in her life as he could be, especially now that she and him had their share of space to cover and close.

"I'll be in touch, Lois," he promised.

She nodded, waiting for him to flash out of the place before heading back into the apartment. She took off her sweatshirt and sighed. Why did she always have to go for the unattainable men?

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**Please review? **Well, what did you think? I am extremely curious to your opinions, of course. I do write because that is what I _love _to do, so I am not going to demand reviews, but I would be incredibly grateful if you left behind a comment and/or critique. I would like to improve my writing skills and it's also important to know whether I am keeping you entertained. I hope I'm doing, at least, something right with this story. :) Have patience with me, since the writing process takes a little time with me, but I can promise you that there will be a next chapter!


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